Live Register static at 14.3%

The number of people signing on the Live Register increased by 100 in April, with the standardised unemployment rate remaining static at 14.3 per cent.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, 436,000 people were claiming jobseekers benefits and allowances in April, some 6,400 fewer than in the same month last year.

The number of long term claimants, those in receipt of benefits for more than a year, increased by 8.6 per cent to 184,053 in the year to April.

The number of women in the long term category increased by 15.4 per cent (6,889) in that period and the number of men rose by 6.2 per cent (7,744).

The data suggests that emigration is continuing among those aged under 25, with the number from this group claiming benefits falling by 0.3 per cent last month. The number of people aged under 25 signing on has decreased every month since July 2010.

The percentage of those aged under 25 signing on the Live Register now stood at 16.5 per cent at the end of April, down from 18.1 per cent a year earlier and 19.2 per cent in April 2010.Figures from the Central Statistic Office.

The number of casual and part-time workers claiming benefits has risen by 1.1 per cent since April of last year to 88,442, with the increase largely accounted for by male workers (+ 4.7 per cent).

Non-Irish nationals accounted for 17.9 per cent (77,015) of the number on the Live Register, a small increase from the figure recorded one year earlier (17.6 per cent).

Separately, European data shows that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate across the euro area increased to 10.9 per cent in March.

Some 17.4 million in the euro area were unemployed in March 2012, an increase of 169,000 or just under 1 per cent on the previous month. Unemployment has risen by 1.7 million or 10 per cent since March of last year.

The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4 per cent), the Netherlands (5 per cent), Luxembourg (5.2 per cent) and Germany (5.6 per cent), with the highest rates in Spain (24.1 per cent) and Greece (21.7 per cent).